Let me share a brief story.

This story is 100% true and illustrates a rule of good copy.  Fail to do this, and dollars will leak from your emails like sand from a bucket with a hole in the bottom.  Do this, and it will instantly make your emails more persuasive.

The other day, as we were headed to school, my 6-year old daughter Olivia was giving her old man all kinds of grief.  She didn’t want to wear tights under her jeans.  She didn’t want to put her winter boots on.

I tried gentle cajoling, “ok, please just put your boots on.”

I tried explaining it’s the coldest day of the year (-12) and she’ll freeze.

Finally, we were getting late.  So I said, “I don’t want to do this but you leave me no choice.  You have until the count of three to put those boots on or they’ll be no T.V. tonight.  One…two…”

Three.

Still no boots.  BOOM. Officially sanctioned.

Fast forward to pick up.  After some pleasant exchange she queries, “what are we gonna watch tonight?”

I reply, “nothing, remember?”

At home she asks for a sheet of paper.  She begins to write.  Every now and then she stops to ask me how to spell a word.  Here then, is her first plea bargain attempt:

Hilarious.

And written just the way she talks, “like, c’mon Dad, ugh!!”

I tell her it’s cute and funny — great start.  But here’s the problem: it’s all about how SHE feels.

What about how I feel?

Try putting yourself in my position, I say.

Show me you understand and you’re sorry — but only if you mean it.

She watches and listens intently, eyes narrowed, then picks up her pen with a fresh piece of paper.  Again she goes to work.  She gets some spelling help on the big words but the sentiment is all hers.  Here’s attempt #2:

Much better.

(Notice the well-placed call-to-action of the yes and no boxes.)

Anyway, here’s the point…

Being cute, funny, or clever in your emails doesn’t hurt (indeed I’m using a smattering of all three right now).

But people are motivated by self-interest.

What are your market’s most fervent fears and desires?

Why should they care about what you have to say?

For more persuasive emails, then, speak to what matters to them.  And note that this has little to do the features of your service or product, and everything to do with the outcomes you create, or the problems you solve for your customers.  One of Stephen Covey’s seven habits of effective people is seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Go back and reread my second paragraph.

You’ll see how I framed my story to appeal to the reader’s self-interest.

Unfortunately, many of the newsletters I get leave it up to their subscribers to bridge that gap.

Don’t let yours be one of them.

At bedtime, Olivia said: “I learned a valuable lesson today.”

Hehe.

Hope you did too…

Happy Persuading,

Conor Kelly

P.S. I’m looking for one more case study to add to the collection.  If you’d like me to do all this “marketing stuff” for you, just reply “Case Study” in the comments, and I’ll get you all the details. 🙂

 

Here’s a strange story for you.

A few years ago a company called Porter Stansberry Research used a plain Jane video sales letter to sell a whopping $200M worth of subscriptions to their Investment Advisory.

The video was called End of America.

(You can watch it on YouTube if you’re curious.)

I mean this thing is ghetto.

It’s black and white, and conspicuous by its lack of images…in fact, there are no graphics at all, just words.

The late, great Eugene Schwartz, the Granddaddy of the modern copywriter was famous for saying:

“The ugly thing in the world of beauty stands out.”

(The video also tells a great story, topic for another time…)

Similarly, when most businesses are sending slick-looking, branded HTML newsletters with fancy graphics, your plain text emails complete with typos and all stand out.

I’d go as far as to say that trying to make your emails ‘professional’ is the kiss of death.

For one, professional is common, drab and uninteresting.  And it screams corporate – a good way to ensure no one cares about your emails.  Finally, many of the newsletters I review are busy, click-baited hot-messes that lack a clear call to action.

The best emails are simple and personal.

Like a message from a friend.

And most people that are not corporate mouthpieces write in a conversational tone, use imperfect grammar, and can’t spell worth a dime.

As hard as it will be for the graphic designers of the world to swallow, looking good and making sales – sometimes – are competing ideals.

To learn more about how my simple email system can generate a flood of new clients for you, mosey on over here to book your stress-free brainstorm call:

http://calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome

Happy Misspelling,

Conor Kelly

“The Muscle” @Marketing Muscle

What is the most important line in any email?

I’ll give you a hint.

It’s NOT…

*your opener

*your subject line

*your call-to-action

Or even your link.

Would you like me to tell you what it is?

Ok, enough suspense.

The #1 most important part of any email is…

The sender’s name.

That’s right.

WHO the email is from matters more than almost anything else.

It’s not that things like subject lines aren’t important.  Indeed, if you know your market well (and you should) there are ways to make your subject lines almost impossible to ignore – like an itch they simply have to scratch.

But if your subscribers know, like, and trust YOU…

THAT’s what ultimately gets them to open your emails and devour your words like freshly baked cookies.

You see, intelligent email marketing is about the relationship.

And relationships are like bank accounts.

Every time you send a funny, inspiring, or personal note with a story, a relevant tip, or an interesting fact, you make a deposit.

(And the great thing about email is it’s easy to make REGULAR deposits.)

If all you do pitch, pitch, pitch… or you’re (gasp!) boring…or if your emails are about your product or service and not your reader’s problems… you make a withdrawal.  Then you risk your sendee losing interest or worse, tuning you out altogether.

On the other hand, when the relationship account is sporting a healthy balance, the people on your list who vibe with what you do will be delighted to see your name in bold when it pops up in their inbox.  “More cookies, yay!” is what bubbles up from their subconscious.

Then, not only are you welcome to send them more emails, but you can sell them more of your service or product via said emails.

See how that works?

That’s accounting I like.

Remember, lead with a giving hand and you won’t go too far from the mark.

Before you hit send, ask yourself, “Will this serve in some way”?

Happy Depositing,

Conor Kelly

P.S.  Find out how I get my clients 3x-10x their sales by sending simple fun emails like this one.  Schedule your Email Income Consultation today by replying to this email or going here:

http://calendly.com/conorkel/emailincome